black is the colour
by Ava Chanel
Summary: She always did stand out...A collection of various Mal & Inara snippets.


A/N: _Muse is a fickle thing. It often comes, and often goes. It inspires a full length story, and sometimes a brief one-shot. This is for the in between ideas, the fleeting ones that need a space of their own. Often short and sweet and following no specific timeline. Mal & Inara, in AU, and not. This is a collection of little snippets from my cramped mind, inspired by every day and so on. :)_

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**Black is the Colour**

_Now black is the colour of my true love's hair  
Her lips are like some roses fair  
The sweetest smile and the gentlest hands  
I love the ground whereon she stands..._

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_Cops & Robbers_

_I._

As if it weren't bad enough already that she had to come to work during a massive ice storm. As if she hadn't had to take public transit all the way to the city core in awful weather, and nearly slip on black ice too many times to count. To make things worse, the weather was causing major blackouts everywhere with no signs of letting up, forcing most hospitals to run on generators. But anyone taking a glance over at her patient assignment for the shift would have known that Inara Serra's day was about to get even more difficult.

She ran a hand through her short, unruly, jet black curls, and tried not to get overwhelmed by her new admission. This was what happened when she arrived to work late after all; slim pickings. Especially since the unit was already so understaffed, the extra workload had to be dispersed fairly between the nurses who had shown up to work. Of course, the term 'fairly' was a little bit fuzzy in meaning when it came to situations such as this.

"If you need a hand at all, feel free to give me a shout, 'Nara," Kaylee had offered up with a soft smile, after the shift report had been read.

Inara had been grateful, but somehow didn't think the newly hired nursing graduate would be able to handle the care of a fugitive who'd just had a cardiac arrest. Heck, she was barely certain if _she_ could handle it herself. She thanked her peer for her offer regardless, and started collecting all her paperwork for the admission. She made notes, set up her notepad for her assessment, and worked up the courage to go see how her newest patient was doing. She was, after all, still responsible for his life.

When Inara was ready to go, with her vital signs machine in tow, she found a female officer in uniform standing vigil outside of the private room. Inara figured she was from the night shift duty, judging by how tired and bored by her surroundings she appeared to be. The officer acknowledged Inara's presence as she made her way to enter the room she was guarding.

"You the day nurse?" she queried, maintaining an intimidating stance, her gaze steely and suspicious.

Nothing got in. No one got out.

Inara mustered up a smile and flashed the woman her identification badge.

"That would be me, Inara Serra. I'll be taking care of Mr. Cobb for the day," she explained.

Inara snuck a glance at the silver name pin on the officer's right breast. It read 'Z.A. WASHBURNE'.

"Officer Washburne, if it's okay, I'd like to make my routine admission assessment of the patient," she informed her politely.

For a moment, it appeared that the officer would not budge, and they locked eyes in silence and anticipation. Then, she stood tall at her full height, and stared down at Inara, before speaking in a quiet, sultry voice; "Don't be afraid. The worst he'll do is make an inappropriate remark seein' as you're one of the pretty ones. The nurse before you didn't handle it well, was shakin' the whole time. I'm hopin' you're more experienced than that, Ms. Serra."

She then turned, and entered the room, not giving Inara the chance to respond to her instruction. She followed after her, the bubble of nervousness that had formed inside of her already growing bigger at the darkness of the police woman's words. She took in a deep breath to steady her nerves, and calm down the quick pace of her heart, before acknowledging the man who would be in her care for the entirety of her twelve hour shift.

Jayne Cobb looked every bit of the fugitive that he was. He was tall, burly, and intimidating. He wore a scowl to dictate that he was exactly as uncomfortable as he appeared to be. He was hooked up to an IV, and he lay in the hospital bed awkwardly due to his height and size. If there was ever a casting call for the most clichéd looking male prisoners, Inara was pretty certain that Mr. Cobb would have fit right in. Except, of course, he _was_ an actual male prisoner. He first glanced at Officer Washburne before scrutinizing his new nurse's presence.

Inara maintained a cheery disposition regardless, relying on all her previous experiences and schooling for dealing with such delicate matters. "Good morning, Mr. Cobb. My name is Inara, and I'm going to be your nurse for today," she introduced herself, scribbling her name onto the whiteboard that hung on the wall across from her patient.

She could feel his eyes boring into her back, and for a change, was grateful for the loose, unflattering fit of her uniform. Not that it stopped a patient from leering, but it sure as heck made it a tedious task. When Inara turned back around, officer Washburne had her arms folded over her chest, her eyes never leaving Jayne's still form.

"Ain't decent to be wakin' up a sick man at this hour, if you ask me," Jayne muttered as he shifted on the hospital bed.

Inara maintained her sunny attitude. "It is, but it's also scary to let you go without any assessment and medication after your recent heart attack, Mr. Cobb. I'll be out of your way in a few minutes, and you can certainly get back to sleep," she told him, giving him a once over with her experienced eye.

At her skill level, she knew what to look for, knew what she needed to document, and by now, a simple glance was often enough to cover most bases. She pulled out her stethoscope and told Jayne exactly what she was going to do. "I need to have a listen to your heart, Mr. Cobb."

He didn't argue or fight her, much to her surprise. She wasn't sure if it was because he was simply exhausted from his previous ordeal, or because of officer Washburne's intimidating presence. She was grateful, either way. She went about performing her routine assessments with the shockingly very cooperative criminal, gaining more of her confidence the more time she spent in that room. She took down all of his vital signs, noted that everything was as expected for someone who'd experienced a cardiac arrest, and jotted it down on her notepad.

"It's important for you to let me know of any pain, Mr. Cobb. Angina, chest pain, is common, and is easily treated with medication. Your buzzer is at your bedside, so feel free to press it if you need anything, or if you do start to experience any pain at all. I'll be back with your medication, and Dr. Tam should be in soon enough to check up on you as well," she droned on absent-mindedly as she continued writing down her notes.

"Pretty girls don't call me a mister. Makes me feel like I'm some kinda old geezer. The name's Jayne to you," he winked at her just as officer Washburne brought in a steaming breakfast tray with plastic utensils.

Inara smiled, and bit her tongue not to reply with any snark. "Of course. _Jayne_. I'll be back with some of your medicine."

With that, she double checked to make sure her patient's telemetry device was intact, and all the electrodes were exactly where they needed to be on his chest, and then proceeded to leave the room. Officer Washburne gave her a brief nod, and then went about the tedious task of watching her charge.

That was when she'd bumped right into _him_.

Even before she looked up, she knew it couldn't have been either of the Tam doctors, because neither would be so careless. She knew it wasn't another nurse, because no one would have reason, or clearance, to enter the room without officer Washburne's inspection. And she knew it was a '_him'_, because he was significantly taller than her, with her head colliding into his broad chest.

They practically bounced off one another, and she almost lost her footing. When she did look up, she saw the familiar navy blue uniform first, followed shortly by the silver identification badge that read 'M. REYNOLDS' on his breast pocket. He was apologizing to her even before he'd fully recuperated from his own near loss of balance; "I'm real sorry, ma'am. Need to be more mindful of where I'm steppin' around these tricky corners. Are you alright?"

Inara cleared her throat, and tucked a short lock of hair behind her ear, trying to regain her composure around yet another officer of the law. She nodded, and said, "It's all right, I'm fine. These things happen."

He smiled jovially, and the crinkles at the corners of his eyes added character to his expression. It didn't take Inara long to figure that he was officer Washburne's partner, and was probably there to relieve her of her duty.

After a moment of awkward pause, with neither knowing what else to say, they both spoke at the same time.

"I should go get the medication-"

"I should probably introduce myself-"

They both stopped, catching themselves, and then laughed uncomfortably at the mix up.

He spoke up first, before Inara had the chance to escape the increasingly distressful situation. "You're probably Jayne's nurse, I take it?"

Inara nodded with a forced smile.

The constable ran a hand through his already dishevelled, golden brown hair, only to have the strands land perfectly back the way they were. "Well, that's a relief. I was hopin' for a more experienced lady this time 'round," he admitted, letting out a sigh.

Inara shifted her gaze to the floor, not really knowing how to remark on his observation of her. Was he calling her old? By the looks of it, she was probably younger than _him _by a couple of years.

The policeman didn't seem to be fazed by her reaction to his supposed insult, and went on, "I see you've met your patient. Real charmer, ain't he? Anyways, if he's givin' you a hard time, that's what Zoe and I are here for. He'll be harmless, so long as we're in there with you."

Of course.

It would be typical for a police officer to play the role of dashing white knight for a pretty, helpless looking female. But Inara was seasoned in her career path, and in real life. She could handle herself, and knew how to deal with patients, and men, like Jayne Cobb. Maybe, the staff had known she'd be the most qualified after all, and that was why they'd stuck her with him. If it hadn't been Inara, they probably would have given him to Kaylee, since she was the fresh meat around there, and nurses did have a habit of eating their young. Not to mention, the majority of Simon Tam's patients often landed in Kaylee's care. The notion of kind, sweet Kaylee having to be put in such a position so fresh out of school left Inara feeling grateful that the staff had decided to forgo that route.

Although, knowing Kaylee, she most likely wouldn't have minded at all, and that was what had endeared her so much to Inara.

"Thank you, officer Reynolds. I'll be certain to keep that in mind," Inara finally replied with a tight smile, deciding that she may as well buy into his damsel-in-distress perception of her, if only for now.

It would make things easier if they all just got along for the duration of her shift. She didn't need more problems than she already had. Her plate was full, and she had five other patients that needed looking after as well.

Before he could drag her into any more conversation, Inara turned on her heel, and walked towards her medcart to begin prepping all of the medication she'd need for her patient. She'd wasted enough time dawdling, and had to hurry up before the doctors started to arrive to the unit.

Officer Reynolds disappeared into Jayne's room where he reunited with his partner. She'd helped set Jayne up to eat his breakfast, and was mindful of the plastic utensils he was using to shovel the food into his mouth. Her expression was one of mild disgust.

Her partner joined her at the bedside, and Jayne looked up briefly to examine the new presence in his room. Once he noted the policeman's identity, he went back to eating the horribly stale food of the hospital, as if it were a home cooked turkey dinner on turkey day.

"Gotta give the man credit for bein' able to eat like that. Did eggs and toast always have the same colourin'?" Officer Reynolds asked his partner.

Zoe shook her head, "Not that I know of. Just proves a man starved'll eat anything."

And then, she turned her gaze towards the taller man, and gave him a knowing look. He caught it, and raised an eyebrow, "What? Somethin' on my face?"

It was Zoe's turn to quirk an eyebrow, the corners of her lips twitching into a smirk as she folded her arms over her chest. "You know exactly _what_, Mal," she said.

"The heck you talkin' about?" he questioned.

Zoe shook her head, smiled, and turned her attention back to Jayne. "All a man needs is to see a good lookin' woman, and he starts losin' his head," she remarked to herself.

Her partner, understanding her meaning, was quick to display offense and shock.

Jayne snickered in between mouthfuls of egg and coffee.

Before Mal could even come up with a comeback in his own defense, Zoe quizzed him, "Just tell me one thing; you ain't started in on any of those silly nurse fantasies, have you?"

Jayne snorted coffee out of his nose.

_-to be continued-_

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**A/N: **_Most likely everything in this compilation will be inspired by something in real life. Or it's just an idea that I had where I don't have enough room to flesh out a full story, or it's too long for a brief one-shot. This particular story comes from a dear friend, who had to go into work for a twelve hour nursing shift during a ridiculous ice storm that cut out the power throughout most of the places it hit. I, of course, added my own twists here and there. Obviously, healthcare is my field of expertise, so I've also used some of my own experiences to help shape it for accuracy (actually having to care for a fugitive patient). This particular tale will have a brief continuation, perhaps one or two more chapters. I don't own the characters, Joss does, and I hope it isn't blasphemy to have put them in a temporary alternate universe. :) Feedback is welcomed. _


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